Kildare man receives six month sentence for sex with child

A MAN received a six-month prison sentence with a further 12-months suspended for charges relating to sexual acts with a child aged 12 at Naas Circuit Court recently.

The accused pleaded to multiple charges, including the defilement of a child under the age of 17 years; use of information and communication technology to facilitate sexual exploitation of a child; sexual assault and meeting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The man, who was 19 at the time, and child, who was 12, began talking through a dating, friends and hookups app called ‘Wink’, where the child was pretending to be 19 years old.

The two began talking and eventually arranged to meet up on 20 May 2023.

Both the man and the child met at Heuston Station in Dublin, before going to the cinema, and later making their way to the accused’s family home at a location in Kildare.

The court heard that the accused was only made aware that the child was not the age she had posed as online during the date, when the victim told the accused she was 16.

However, the man would later tell gardaí he knew her true age.

Later that evening, at the accused’s home where he resides with family, he and the 12-year-old child engaged in sexual intercourse, before she stayed overnight.

Meanwhile, the victim’s family contacted gardaí which prompted a missing persons investigation.

The accused claimed that he wasn’t aware that her parents were looking for her, and when he found out he brought her back to Heuston Station where they met the day before.

Gardaí located the child on 21 May at Heuston Station where they noticed that the child had “love bites” on her neck.

She subsequently disclosed the events that had taken place, which prompted further investigation and a search at the accused’s address, carried out on 24 May 2023, four days after the incident.

The accused admitted to gardaí that the child had been at his home address and knowing her age.

One year later, both the man and child had made contact again through social media and shared sexually explicit images.

After this, the two arranged to meet once more.

This time, the man drove out of county and met her at a Centra in Mullingar.

Prosecutor Jordan Fletcher explained: “He drove to a secluded area where (the child) got onto his lap and there was kissing and touching.

“The accused was on bail when he committed these offences and would have known that his victim was now 14.” 

After this event, the victim’s parents got in contact once again with gardaí.

Defending barrister, Michael Bowman, said that man engaged in “what he understood to be consensual sex” on the first occasion, and explained the feelings of the accused through a statement which indicated he “got lost in the moment” on the second occasion of meeting up.

“On some level, they believe they have a relationship,” said Mr Bowman.

The court heard details of the accused’s upbringing, which involved bullying in primary and secondary school, poor mental health including suicidal thoughts, and a lack of friendships and social life.

The man, who is described as a lonely man who psychologically presents younger than his age, should be judged in accordance with his difficult past, Mr Bowman argued. 

He suggested it might have been the reason he was not willing to let the connection between himself and the victim go.

Judge Terence O’Sullivan said: “It’s clear that the accused entered into a sexual relationship with the victim believing she was 19, then that she was 16.

“The problem is that any sex with a 12-year-old is not good for their health and needs to be protected by law. She is entitled to protection of the law.” 

He continued: “The difficulty is that a year later there’s interaction between them. Knowing her age, he did engage in a sexual way.

“This man is not a sexual predator in my view. He quickly entered a relationship which was offered to him and that was very attractive to him. He has a difficult background and presents psychologically younger.” 

Speaking about maturity in relation to men and women, Judge O’Sullivan noted that men often mature at a slower rate than women.

“Often in their mid-20s they get sense and don’t fall into the kind of trap that he did.” 

The defendant was sentenced to a six-month headline sentence on one count which had already been served by the date of sentencing, and a 12-month suspended sentence was imposed on another count.

The accused was then directed to enter a bond of good behaviour, which includes paying a bond of €100, keeping probation officers up to date with his address, engaging with the probation service, seeking employment and prosocial activities and maintaining no contact with the victim for a period of three years, until she is of legal age.